A Perfect Day for Blogging

Our little farmstead from the northwest.

Today is absolutely the perfect day for getting caught up with my blogging. We've been having a stretch of gorgeous weather, the kind that's ideal for doing all those winterizing tasks you've waited until the last possible moment to do. Hey, you have your holiday traditions, I'll have mine. And, sorry, dear readers, but making my house warm and toasty takes a wee bit more of a priority than you do. After all, YOU don't have to huddle up in a sub-zero wind-tunnel if I don't get it all done.

But today is gray and gloomy, with rain and wind gusting up to 50 mph. It's a great day to stay inside, and technically, I have a storage room to sort, but that can wait for a while. You'll be happy to know that I love you more than I love cleaning out my storage room. Don't you feel special now?

So the first thing to catch up on are a few pictures from a couple weeks ago. Fall is such a nice season here. After a few frosts, the bugs are gone, no more ticks, the days are still warm, and it's the perfect time to get out in nature. After all, you won't be doing much outside for the next 4 months, so it's nice to get a little Vitamin D stocked up.

Caleb and I did some exploring out back. I keep hoping that every new season will expose some undiscovered pirate treasure out there. No luck so far. Evidently, the pirates didn't think to come this far inland. Too bad, because no one would ever have guessed where they hid their treasure. But I keep checking the same areas just in case. You never know what you'll find.

This time I found an old wood burning stove that ripped apart when we tried to pull it out of the dirt. I also found an old children's wagon, identifiable only by the handle sticking out from a rusted skeleton. And Caleb and I were excited to discover that the shallow puddle we'd confidently ice skated on last winter is actually a deep, man-made pond that would have reached well over our heads. It still might for that matter, because I couldn't see the bottom of it, even after a summer of drying up. At least we'll have an ice rink this winter.

All the fields have been harvested, so we hiked across the wheat stubble to the top of a hill we've never climbed before. Turns out that the view from the top isn't a whole lot different from the view from the bottom. Climbing hills is somewhat less thrilling on the prairie than elsewhere. But I did get a nice picture of our homestead from a different direction.

  

And yes, that picture is at the top of a hill, even if it looks flat. Our hills are flat, OK! Don't rub it in.

We may not have found a chest of gold and jewels, but we still found plenty of treasure. Fresh air, a peaceful atmosphere, lots of wildlife, freedom in every direction as far as you can see, and lots of beautiful scenery. That's the kind of treasure no pirate's booty could ever purchase. After all, how many of the great pirates died horrible deaths as a result of their wealth, and I never have to worry about anyone stealing my treasures. They're a little hard to pack up and carry off!